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Greenwich YMCA Restructures Debt to Continue Construction

The YMCA of Greenwich, CT, announced a major debt restructuring and bank bailout last Friday that will allow the facility to complete renovations, the Greenwich Time reported.

The project was put on hold about three years ago when contractors, owed about $6 million, stopped work and filed mechanic's liens against the YMCA. The Y reached a settlement with the contractors and the bank after a legal battle between the Y and its creditors. The YMCA raised $6 million in new capital in 2011, reducing the total debt from $26 million to $23.5 million.

Just this month, the Y secured a loan for $3.45 million from The First Bank of Greenwich that helped the organization pay off the outstanding mechanic's liens as part of the settlement, the newspaper reported. The Y is counting the loan toward the $6 million in new capital it says it raised, the balance of which is made up of donations, budgetary savings and leftover funds that were to be paid to the contractors at the end of the renovation.

The Y must still pay its lender, JPMorgan Chase, $20 million over the life of the tax-free bonds issued for the project, which have 23 years of 30 to go.

Currently, 40 percent of the building cannot be used because it is under construction. The Y said construction resumed about two weeks ago and is scheduled to be complete at the end of September.

The Y will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at 8 a.m. Wednesday to celebrate the resumption on the project, which will enable the facility to provide elevator access to all levels, complete work on new locker rooms, restrooms and reopen an indoor track. The renovations also will give the Y flexibility to expand its day care facility.